Everyone is different. Some drivers want cruise control.
I do not use cruise control in stop n go traffic nor on some highways
where I know within a few miles the traffic will change the speed. I use
it on long trips where that does not happen, and so as to not have to
keep my foot on the accelerator.
Cruise control is a common term, and the ice cruise control will
maintain the speed no mater what. So, this is where I can throw out a
few words about how that control could be different, and save even more
pack energy.
Having the control use more power to fight its way up to maintain an
arbitrary speed can be wasteful, especially on highways the have a lot
of up and down. Local to the SF area is highway 280 that cuts threw
rolling foothill land that used to belong to Stanford U. It is a roller
coaster ride going up and then down (repeat), and does waste energy if
one only tried to maintain the speed (like a dumb cruise control).
But what we plugin drivers need is a smart 'cruise control' that is
programed to be less wasteful. It would maintain a constant speed but in
a less energy demanding way. Perhaps instead of cruise control, I ought
to call it an energy-control, or smart-cruise-control.
When I drove Highway 280 in an EV, I would let the speed rise when going
down hill passed the stated speed limit (usually by 5 mph, which was OK
in the right lane since everyone else was driving 15 mph over the speed
limit in all the other lanes). And then after I started climbing again,
I would keep the amount of current the accelerator allowed to the motor
the same as my speed decreased up the next hill. When I reached the
crest of the hill, I would be 5mph below the speed limit. Keeping the
current coming out of the battery the same, and not letting the momentum
be lost with strong regen, would save energy.
There are a number of new technologies coming that could be fed into the
smart-cursie-control, like seeing the car in-front of you slowing down
so your vehicle would begin coasting allowing normal deceleration
(without regen).
Regular ice cruise control would not do this. I think it is time plugin
drivers asked for a smart cruise control that saves more energy.
{brucedp.150m.com}
-
On Sun, Jan 5, 2014, at 11:08 AM, Chris Tromley wrote:
> On Sun, Jan 5, 2014 at 12:54 PM, brucedp5 <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > IMO There are items that should have been kept with the lowest priced 'S
> > trim' model, and some fluff/junk should have been made optional to keep the
> > price down. On the S trim ...
> >
> > Need an option to buy a:
> > - Cruise control (to save energy)
> > - B-mode regenerative braking system (to save energy)
> >
>
> There will be plenty of opinions on this, but in my case every new car
> I've
> had came with standard cruise control, and it's a waste. I never use it.
> It's a pain to deal with even in light traffic, and it DOES NOT save
> energy. All it does is maintain a constant speed, regardless of
> conditions, which is not the path to low energy usage.
>
> Over time I've learned by using the real-time mpg readout (or ammeter)
> and
> keeping track of mpg every fill-up (or kWh/mile every charge) that
> constant
> speed is pretty inefficient. Much better to use your momentum and surf
> the
> undulations of the terrain. Let your speed drop a bit going uphill and
> give it some more juice going down with a gravity assist. Don't be
> extreme
> or you'll drop out of the sweet spot (and piss off surrounding drivers).
> Conserve and maintain your momentum. I'm not into boats, but I suspect
> this is the same mentality as used when sailing.
>
> Get the feel of it and you'll beat cruise control for efficiency every
> time.
-
--
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